What Does It Take to Bring 500,000 Books to the VNSA Book Sale

If you are one of the millions of patrons who’ve shopped at the VNSA Used Book Sale in our 60+ years, you know the feeling of standing in the Exhibit Building at the Fairgrounds, staring at more than 500,000 sorted, categorized, and priced items. It’s stunning!

The VNSA Used Book Sale is the culmination of a year’s work by the VNSA members and patrons. We spend all year collecting books from the public and sorting them into 29 categories at our warehouse. Once categorized, each book is evaluated for its condition and sale price. Into boxes they go, to await their move into a semi trailer until the February Book Sale rolls around again.

The week prior to each sale, the members unbox every item and arrange them on tables in subsections of their category, so there’s some semblance of order when you walk into the Book Sale. During the two days of the sale, volunteers are constantly resorting books shoppers decide they don’t want to purchase, so they are put back into their category as quickly as possible. That’s what those Resort boxes, tied to each table, are for.

VNSA is an all-volunteer organization. With no paid staff, and the generosity of book donors all over the Valley, we are able to raise thousands of dollars for our benefiting charities, Arizona Friends of Foster Children, Literacy Volunteers of Maricopa County, and others.

We hope to see you at the February VNSA Used Book Sale!